Abstract

The advancement of technology has led to the conversion of traditional courses into Web courses. This conversion is becoming easier and occurring more systematically in higher education. A growing demand for continuing education is changing the characteristic structure of the tertiary student population, with more students working full time and carrying family responsibilities. In addition, education is increasingly embracing active learning models over the traditional transmission mode of instruction. These factors are making Web-based courses easier to implement, more desirable, and pedagogically relevant. However, as the medium is relatively new, it is not yet precisely known what variables contribute more to students' learning. With the prospect of more Web-based courses being taken by an increasing number of students, it is important to gain a better understanding of how Web-based courses influence students learning. Also, research is needed to obtain more understanding of the learning factors that influence student success in web-based learning. Web-based learning has been suggested to be the future of all types of distance learning.